Sunday, October 12, 2014

Why I'm Fighting Demons...and you should be too!

My life-long love of literature doesn't seem to be hereditary. I have a child who likes to read, and three children who will read a few things. But none of them seem to have the deep-seated need to curl up with a good book the way I always have.

So, when they DO pick up a book, I'm always anxious to ensure that they're reading something that's beneficial, edifying and challenging.

Have you seen what passes for youth literature these days?

Years after I was legally and obviously an adult, I still visited the youth sections at the library, finding new treasures and revisiting old ones.  But over the last 15 years or so, it's grown very difficult to find anything worth reading on those shelves. I want to pin-point the start to shortly after the Harry Potter series was released, but I honestly don't know where it all began.  Somewhere along the way, the idea of the supernatural became something not only to capitalize on, but something writers decided needed to be conveyed as desirable.  Something to aspire to.  Something to yearn for.

NOT COOL!

I grew up reading Frank Peretti books. While fiction, they at least accurately conveyed the seriousness of the supernatural.  Demons, vampires, witches, ghosts, demigods. The mystical, the metaphysical, the paranormal.  The Bible makes it clear that there is more out there that we cannot perceive. There is an 'otherwordly' realm in which real things happen that affect us.  But it also makes it clear that those things are not to be taken lightly. That what is out there is deeply and deadly serious.

I was more than thrilled to discover Brock Eastman's 'Howlsage'.  Not only a book that my non-bookworms were excited to read, but a book that puts the supernatural in the correct light.  That uses the fictional to teach the Biblical in a way that both appeals to and excites young readers.

Mr. Eastman's 'Howlsage' was written to be the first in a series.  Shortly after publication, though, the company that published it got out of the fiction business.  So 'Blizzardsage' and 'Crimsonsage' (parts 2 and 3 of the series) were put on indefinite hold.

I'm SO excited to announce that the 'Sages of Darkness' series is about to be a reality.  Brock Eastman has put together an awesome Kickstarter to fund publication of the entire series.  He's about $1000 away from his goal right now, and no one wants this to succeed more than I do (well....it's possible he does!)



Are you sick and tired of the glamorizing of evil? Do you wish you could find something exciting and relevant for your kids to read? Do you want to be a part of bringing some sanity and reality back to youth literature? Do you want access to more books that even reluctant readers enjoy?

Go check out the Kickstarter for 'Sages of Darkness', chip in what you can, and pass this along to everyone you know.  We have less than 72 hours, but I know if everybody tries, we can definitely help get this Kickstarter above and beyond the minimum. Help fund the series! Help #FightaDemon!!!